This is a story of derring do and derring don’ts, as 12 year old Alex Elliott’s failure to adhere to the four points of the Chivalric Code almost cause our country’s downfall. We’re in enough trouble already, and about to be enslaved during an eclipse by King Arthur”s evil half-sister Morgana (a delightfully nasty Rebecca… The Kid Who Would Be King Read More
Polar 1.5 stars
I hate to admit this but the only time I laughed out loud during John Wick 3: Parky Bottom, I mean Polar, was when something terrible happened to the cute dog. Based on the comic series of the same name, Polar mixes dark brooding and methodical kills with trashy, flashy, searingly bright gunfests to weird… Polar Read More
Colette (London Film Festival) 3.5 stars
I am the real Claudine, the young women of Paris all cry, as Colette’s series of novels about a young French woman hit a nerve. Born Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette (she shortens her name later as she starts to create a new identity for herself as the author of her books), she is a woman ahead of… Colette (London Film Festival) Read More
Siberia 2.5 stars
There’s a coldness to Matthew Ross’s new thriller Siberia that goes way beyond bleakly sub-zero temperatures and beautiful ice-blue diamonds. That and the nihilistic icy clarity of how Lucas Hill’s story will end make it hard to really engage with. Still, his relationships with his new girlfriend and her brother are bleakly funny, and there’s… Siberia Read More
BlacKkKlansman (Cannes 2018) 4 stars
There’s a big sign strung across the entrance to the Colorado Springs Police Department, encouraging new recruits from diverse backgrounds to apply. Ron Stallworth (John David Washington) is soon their first black police officer, fulfilling his lifelong dream. And once there, he also joins another outfit as their first black recruit; the local branch of… BlacKkKlansman (Cannes 2018) Read More
Fahrenheit 451 (Cannes 2018) 2.5 stars
I love the initial minutes of dystopian storytelling; how a society got to this point, the new realities of everyday life, and the capacity of the human spirit to absorb horrific change without challenging it. How much do they agree? How much are they hoping someone else will save them? Or maybe they just don’t… Fahrenheit 451 (Cannes 2018) Read More
No Shade 3.5 stars
*** No Shade is showing as part of the Pan-African Film+ Arts Festival in LA this February – find out more here *** “If I’m natural I’m bush, and if I put on a wig I’m fake”, cries the beautiful and elegant Jade in frustration, as a succession of terrible dates and a broken love… No Shade Read More
A Quiet Place 4.5 stars
With A Quiet Place, director and co-writer John Krasinski proves himself to be a master of relentless (and I mean relentless) tension, which doesn’t stop until the final frame. This film is only 90 minutes’ long but it’s a 90 minute crescendo of suspense, peppered with shocks and heartbreak. This is a battle for survival,… A Quiet Place Read More
Peter Rabbit 3 stars
It turns out I’ve been pronouncing radicchio wrong my whole life! Since the 90s anyway, when I realised there was a plant called radicchio. (In my defence, I didn’t eat an avocado til 1987.) This live action/CGI Peter Rabbit is only loosely based on the original – as my 8 year old said authoritatively, “it’s a sequel… Peter Rabbit Read More
Annihilation 4.5 stars
If there had been a pub in the deserted Area X zone where the all-women group of scientists is sent on a reconnaissance mission, I could have begun this review with “a biologist, a paramedic, a physicist, a psychologist and a geologist turn into a bar…” Annihilation gets under your skin, and leaves lots of unanswered… Annihilation Read More
Game Night 4 stars
This is a film about sperm and an egg, and what you can create out of them. In this case a fast paced, laugh-out-loud comedy with a nasty streak that pushes the envelope til the last frame. The sperm are Max’s (Jason Bateman). Their motility isn’t great, because of stress, and when the doctor asks… Game Night Read More
I, Tonya 4.5 stars
“Why CAN’T it just be about the skating?” replies Tonya Harding to a judge when they respond to her accusations of deliberately low marking with “Tonya, it’s never been entirely about the skating… you just refuse to play along”. It’s hardly her fault that she was born poor though, with an abusive parent who creates in… I, Tonya Read More
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